专八人文 语言学概编.docVIP

English Linguistics 1. Introduction 1.1 What is Language? 1) Language is a purely human and non-instinctive method of communicating ideas, emotions and desires by means of voluntarily produced symbols. -- Sapir s 2) Language is the institution whereby humans communicate and interact with each other by means of habitually used oral-auditory arbitrary symbols. -- Hal s 3 ) From now on I will consider language to be a set of (finite or infinite) sentences, each finite in length and constructed out of a finite set of elements. -- Chomsky s Langue is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication. 1.2 What is Linguistics? Linguistics is a scientific study which based on the systematic investigation of linguistic data, conducted with reference to some general theory of language structure. 1.3 The Scope of Linguistics The study of language as a whole is often called general linguistics. This deals with basic concepts, theories, descriptions, models and methods applicable in any linguistic study. The specific subcategories of linguistics are phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmatic, sociolinguistic, psycholinguistics, and applied linguistics. Prescriptive and Descriptive If a linguistic study aims to describe and analyze the language people actually use, it is said to be descriptive; if the linguistic study aims to lay down rules for correct and standard behaviors in using language, it is said to be prescriptive. 1.5 Synchronic and Diachronic Language exists in time and changes through time. The description of a language in some point of time in history is a synchronic study; the description of a language as it changes through times is a diachronic study. 1.6 Five Design Features of Langhage 1 ) Arbitrariness- no logical (motivated or intrinsic ) connection between sounds and meanings. Onomatopoeic words (which imitate natural sounds) are somewhat motivated (English: rumble, crackle, bang...; Chines